Hand-strap mounting



Nov. 22,1927.

L. M. CLARK HAND STRAP MOUNTING Filed Aug. 9, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 22, 1927.

L. M. CLARK HAND STRAP MOUNTING Filed Aug. 9, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 22, W27.

LEVEBETT lvI. "CLARK, NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSTGNOR T WA'UGH EQUIPMENT COM- PANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

HAND-STRAP MOUNTING.

This invention relates to hand straps such as are employed in surface, subway and elevated street car lines, and particularly to the mounting for such straps.

The object of the invention is to provide a hand strap mounting which is simple and eficient, and wherein provision is made for adjusting the relation of the strap and the supporting rail therefor in order to secure proper alignment.

A further object is to provide means to adjustably regulate the tensioning of the hand strap with relation to its retracting spring. v

A further object is to provide a cush1oning or braking (action for the strap to pre vent undue and continued swing when re leased after being displaced from .its normal position.

Other objects will appear more inatter.

The invention consists substantially inthe construction, combination, location "and rela .tive arrangement of parts, all as Wlll be more fully hereinafter set forth, as lllUS trated in the accompanying drawings and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is .a broken view in side elevation showing a portion of a supporting rail and a hand strap and mounting therefor embodying my invention applied to said rail.

Fig.2 is a view in vertical transverse .section on the line 2, 2, Fig. 1,100king in the direction of the arrows showing the two extreme positions in dotted lines to which the strap may be swung.

Fig. 3 is a broken View in section on the line a, a, Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line 4, 4:, Fl V l ig. 5 is a broken view in top plan showing a hand strap mounting applied to .1 supporting rail.

fully here- The same part is designated by the same reference numeral wherever it occurs throughout the several I views.

In Patent- No. 989,237, granted April 11, 1911, to James S. Doyle, is shown, described and claimed a structure of hand strap of the class employed on street railway and a other cars, to be grasped orheld by standing or other passengers as a means for support, which is restrained from swinging movement in the direction jOZf the lengthof stituting a hand ,grip, the other end of said arm. being sleevedupon a supporting rails A coiled spring ,is housed within the sleeve of the arm, one end of :said spring being attached to the sleeve and the other end to the supporting rail, whereby the tension of the spring is normally exerted upon the arm to yieldingly retain the same in a retracted position.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the arm is indicated at 6 and the loop hand grip at 7. The arm 6 is formed with a,

sleeve 8 which fits over a supporting rail .9. A coiled spring 10 .is housed within the sleeve 8, and one end 11 thereof is received through a hole formed in the rail 9 while the other end or thespring extends through an arcuate slot 13 in the sleeve 8.

The parts so far referred tolare substantially the same as those of the Doyle patent.

Experience in theuse of hand straps er the type referred to has demonstrated the desirability of providing means to control the operation of the strap and to determine and fix its normal position. To accomplish this result, I provide a stop, shown in this instance as a stamping 14, which is secured at its ends tothe rail 9, and whichspans the length of the'sleeve portion 8 of the strap. This stamping has an annular ,groove 15, pressed or otherwise formed therein, into which extends the end 12 of the spring, said groove constituting a housing for said spring end, thereby not only concealing the projecting spring end. from view,but also forming a protection to prevent the ,pos-

sibility of injury to any one accidently orotherwise grasping or coming in contact with the exposed spring end.

One end of the annular groove 15 is formed into a cylindrical portion 16 by properly bending the wall portions forming said groove. This cylindrical portion is interiorly threaded to receive an adjustable stop screw 17. It will be observed that the inner end of the stop screw 17 presents transversely of the rail 9 and into position to form an abutment for the end 12 of the spring thereby constituting an adjustable stop for the end of the spring. By adjusting the stop screw the normal position of the strap device may be varied, and in this manner all'of the straps mounted on the-same rail 9 may be adjusted into uniform relation and normal position. By bending the sheetmetal into circular form and by employing a threading tap of slightly larger diameter than the ultimate internally threaded boss which is to receive the stop screw, the cylinder portionwill be slightly expanded during the threading operations, but will contract again when'the tap is removed. Now,'when the stop screwis threaded into this boss a slight expansion will again take place and this will serve to cause the interiorly threaded walls of the boss or cylinder portion to efficiently grip the stop screw and hold the same against danger of backing or working out.

The tensioning springs employed in the structure of theDoyle patent are shown as wound. into close coiled helices. I have found thatimproved results are obtained by employing open wound spring coils. By employing normally open wound spring coils the coils are required to be more or less compressed endwise in inserting them within the sleeve 8 and assembling the structure on the supporting rail. The result is that in the completed assembly the endwise expansion of the coils will cause the end of the sleeve 8 to press lightly against the'end wall portion 18 of the stop device 14, thereby preventing undue loosenness and consequent rattle, whileat the same time exerting a damping or mild braking action to prevent oscillatory or rebounding swings of the strap when released from displaced position.

In assembling the straps in position for use the end 11 of the spring coil is engaged in a hole provided therefor in the supporting rail, while the other end 12 of the spring coil is passed through the arcuate slot 13 in the sleeve 8. The spring is then placed in torsion by revolving the arm 6 around the supporting rail 9. When the desired tension is secured the stop member 14 is placed and secured in position on the rail 9. The desired number of hand straps are thus mounted on the rail and then the rail is mounted in supporting brackets 20 on the car in such relation that the straps will normally stand in an inclined retractedposition as shown in Fig. 2. From this normal position where it is out of the way, the strap, when grasped by a standing passenger, vfor example, is swung forwardly or transversely of the car against the torsion of the spring through an are determined by the length of the annular groove 15 in the stop member 14. )Vhen released the strap swings back into its normal retracted position, its pendulum movements being dampened by the tension exerted longitudinally of the coils of the spring due to employing open coilsprings which are longitudinally compressed in assembling the parts.

Having now set forth the objects and nature of my invention, and a structure embodying the principles thereof, what I claim as new and useful and of my own invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a hand strap having a sleeve, a support on which said sleeve is mounted, and a spring coiled upon said support and connected at its ends respectively to said sleeve and support .of a stop secured to said support and straddling said sleeve, said stop having an annularly disposed groove formed therein, the sleeve end of said spring extending into said groove.

2. The combination with a hand strap having a sleeve, a support on which said sleeve is mounted, and a spring coiled upon said support and connected at its ends respectively to said sleeve and support, 0f a stop secured to said support and straddling said sleeve, said stop having an annularly disposed groove formed therein, the sleeve end of said spring extending into said groove, and a stop screw adjustably mounted in said annular oove.

8. The combinat on with a hand strap having a sleeve, a support on which said sleeve is mounted, and a spring coiled upon said support and connected at its ends respectively to said sleeve and support, and an adjustable stop for said spring.

4. The combination with a hand strap having a sleeve, a support on which said sleeve is mounted, and a spring coiled upon said support and connected at its ends respectively to said sleeve and support, of a stop secured to said support and straddling said sleeve, said stop having an annularly disposed groove formed therein, the sleeve end of said spring extending into said groove, the end of said groove formed into a cylindrical portion, and a stop adjustably mounted in said cylindrical portion.

5. The combination with a hand strap having a sleeve, a support on which said sleeve is mounted, and a spring coiled upon saidsupport and connected at its ends respectively to said sleeve and support, of a stop secured to said support and straddling said sleeve, said stop having an annularly disposed groove formed therein, the sleeve end of said spring extending into said groove, the end of said groove formed into an expansible interiorly threaded cylindrical portion, and a threaded stop member adjustably mounted in said cylindrical portion.

6. The combination With a hand strap having a sleeve, a support on which said sleeve is mounted, and a spring coiled upon said support and connected at its ends-respectively to said sleex e and support, of a stop secured to said support and straddling said sleeve, said spring being formed into 10 open COllS which are long1tud1nally com pressed in assembly to exert a pressure on the arm in the direction of the length of said support.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 15 

